Everyone wins with ‘Brawta’

Brawta Living CEO, William Massias with team members at the company's launch last week.

E-commerce business Brawta Living is looking to the future with hopes of tapping deeper into the Jamaican online shopping market by stimulating an already flourishing concept that the residents are yet to fully grasp.

According to Brawta Living CEO, William Massias, with most of the rest of the world already doing a lot of their business online, only two per cent of the Jamaican market are using e-commerce, and the plan is to offer some ‘brawta’ (meaning bonus or extra in Jamaica) to help to boost sales.

At the official launch of the site last week, two years after starting the business, Massias, a former banker, acknowledged that the company is already making a mark on the landscape, having been able to assist Jamaicans getting a considerable amount of deals.

Since inception, the company has been able to realize some $40 million in savings for Jamaican shoppers from over 8,000 coupons, Massias said, highlighting that the company already has more than 57,000 Facebook and 10,000 Instagram followers.

The company also has been able to tap into a wide variety of goods and services that include, hotel, food, fitness, travel and spa, he added.

According to Massias, the success Brawta Living has generated so far, comes from the concept of giving customers an effortless way to work out exactly what is being offered, by offering deals at 50 per cent off.

Massias said, “Brawta is fun. Brawta is about giving back. When I was in banking I was never able to find a situation where there is triple win for everybody.

“Here is a situation where we have the opportunity, when a merchant is having their slow time and we are able to go to them and say, ‘let us sell some deals’, and they are happy. Then we go to the customer and through Brawta they have been able to experience places like Chukka Cove.

“We have had customers who say, ‘if it wasn’t for Brawta, I would never to be able to experience Dolphin Cove’. And we win by being able to facilitate all that. So, it’s a triple win for everybody,” Massias said.

He said one differentiating factor for Brawta than other e-commerce business in the Jamaican landscape, is that Brawta doesn’t tie merchants into long-term deals, but allows them to have access to all the possibilities that are in the market.

Brawta Living Launch

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